Transfering 16track 1" to 24 track 2"

AllenM

AllenM

Member
Hi all,

I started working in a pro studio with all the great gear like fancy mics, compressors, 2" 24 track MTR 90, my grand piano is in there along with an organ and a neat live room.

Here is my situation:

When I am at home I want to record the main tracks on my MS-16, bounce the simple stuff like the click, guitar, bass, and a scratch vox to my TEAC 3340 on 4 tracks. Then I'd like to take my TEAC to the studio and send those four tracks to the 24 track 2" machine and continue with my project. I'd like to know your opinions on doing this as sonically I'd like to achieve a smooth warm late 60s/70s sound. I haven't tried it yet but I know that some artists used to do that back in the day.

The plus to this method is that I'd be able to work at home and transfer it to the studio.
 
So....when you transfer to the 2"....what else are you then going to do in the studio on the 2" along with your transfered tracks?

I guess I'm not seeing the reasons for all the transfers. I mean....if you can work in the studio, why not just work in the studio? Also, why bother using the 16-track if you're just going to record 4 tracks? Why not just record them to the 4-track deck to begin with...?

Is it going to really save you that much time getting the guitar and bass done at home?
I would just do scratch tracks at home, with click.....then do all the keeper tracks at the studio.
 
AllenM said:
The plus to this method is that I'd be able to work at home and transfer it to the studio.
Click to expand...

^^^ This plus is a good enough reason. After Tom Scholz worked this way on the Boston debut album, recording tracks in a home studio and transferring to 24-track in the studio became a popular way of doing things for many. Scholz recorded in his basement using a Scully 280 1-inch 12 track and those tracks ended up on the album. There's a long list of people who started working this way. Madonna had a Tascam 388 for some time and many of those original tracks ended up on her albums. So yeah... do it! There's a lot to be said for working at home at your leisure when inspiration hits and then transfer to a professional format to continue the project.
 
I'm just not seeing any point to first recording 4 tracks to the MS16....then transferring the 4 tracks to the 3340....then transferring the same 4 tracks from the 3340 to the 2"....???

Why not just record to the 4 tracks to the 3340 and then transfer that to 2"....?

AFA recording at home....yeah, it's nice to do that at your leisure, but with only 2 keeper tracks out of the 4....that's still a lot of tracks left for the studio.....so IMO, I would just do the 4 tracks as scratch tracks to work out the song.....then enjoy the benefit of the 2" studio deck for all the tracks, and re-record keeper guitar/bass tracks there.
You get the the better quality for all tracks.

I could see doing 16 tracks on the MS-16, and then transferring them as keeper tracks to the 2", and then having another 8 tracks to work with.....but all that other stuff with two transfers and only 2 keeper tracks is not going to add much value or audio quality to the total process...IMHO.

YMMV.....

Hey Beck...how's that eBay scammer website coming along...?
 
Maybe because the 3340 is portable, but doing it on the 16 track he has more room to mess around and tracks to pick from. Or it sounds better.
 
I know the 4-track more portable.
Yeah, the 16 sounds better, but when he transfers, he loses that with the transfer, and he still only ends up with 4 tracks in the end....which is all he said he was recording at home.

Anyway....it's been a week and he hasn't responded, do we don't know which way he's going. :)

I"m just looking at it from my own situatiuon...I have a nice 16 track, but since I got my 2" 24 track, I don't see any point in recording on the 16 to bounce to the 24.
When I need more tracks than 24....I do dumps to DAW and then record more on the 2".
The sound quality is just better, and that's all I was saying to the OP.
 
Seems if he wanted to make more than one trip from home to studio he would run into trouble. Not sure how he would sync 4 new tracks on the 24 tr with the first four for instance.

Just get a 2" machine for the home. Problem solved! :thumbs up:
 
mdainsd said:
Just get a 2" machine for the home. Problem solved! :thumbs up:
Click to expand...

That's how I solved my 16-track limitation problem....and at the same time took the tape sound quality to a much higher level. :)

I've spent a lot of money on studio gear over the years (some of it on gear that I never got the full value out of)....the 2" deck purchase is most definately one my most worthwhile purchases. The deck, coupled with my DAW, my rack pres and about half of my outboard rack gear....heck, I could toss the rest and not miss it all that much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top